Of course if everything were plug-and-play (PnP) out-of-the-box, we wouldn’t have a problem. But anyone who remembers connecting a printer to a PC back in the 1980s knows that PnP takes time to arrive. So for the foreseeable future, how will IIoT systems be implemented, deployed and maintained? Step forward the systems integrator. One aspect of the IIoT that hasn’t been well publicized is the huge opportunity it represents for systems integrators. But it’s no coincidence that Accenture, PwC and many other IT and OT services companies are producing optimistic reports about the impact of the IIoT. IIoT-related consulting services are a huge opportunity for them now, and over the next decade the market for IIoT systems development, deployment and evolution will be huge.

The vast majority of IIoT systems will include data sources and sinks (sensor networks, edge devices, brilliant machines, proprietary sub-systems, etc.) from both legacy (brown field) and new sub-systems. In effect, IIoT systems can be regarded as an overlay on existing OT and IT systems that complements them and adds new business value through: incorporating new connected devices, supporting distributed analytics, leveraging the Internet and cloud services for global scale and mobility, facilitating enterprise OT/IT alignment, enabling supply-chain optimization and more. Read the full article at www.smartindustry.com